How to store your Vintage Car for the Winter

There are many varying opinions on how to store your vintage vehicle for the winter. You may have your own way of doing things that works for you and gives you that piece of mind through the winter that your vehicle is in a safe and controlled environment.

Since I am not a storage expert I will not comment on when, where and how to get your vehicle prepared for seasonal storage however I will offer my advice on the insurance perspective of storing your vehicle.

It is very common that you may delete ‘driving coverage’ or liability, accident benefits and collision from your vehicle when you put it into storage. Many people think that having ‘fire and theft’ or ‘comprehensive only’ on your vehicle during winter storage is sufficient. By only having this coverage on your vehicle you are exposing yourself to other damages that are not covered by comprehensive coverage, such as collision with another automobile and liability claims. If you do not have another regular automobile and you are deleting this coverage you are eliminating all accident benefits available to you from this automobile policy.

An alternative to deleting coverage from your vehicle is to apply the OPCF 16 – Suspension of Coverage endorsement. This endorsement ‘cancels coverage for the use or operation of the described automobile until coverage is reinstated’. The main advantage of this endorsement rather than the deletion of collision and liability are that your policy will continue to provide some liability, accident benefits while your vehicle is in storage. When you would like to take the vehicle back out, the OPCF 17 – Reinstatement of Coverage can be added to the policy, generally resulting in a premium credit back to you, depending on how long the coverage was suspended.

Your best option however, it to have your vehicle on a Vintage C.A.R.S. Insurance policy.

This policy maintains the same coverage year round, including collision, comprehensive, liability and your basic accident benefits while also giving you a preferred premium. If there is a beautiful day in March when you are itching to you get your vintage automobile out of the garage for a quick ride, you are able to do that without contacting Zehr Insurance Brokers first.

Now that we can offer this type of policy on almost any specialty vehicle, you won’t need to worry about whether your vehicle is insured properly for both of our Canadian seasons, winter and cruising!

Jeremy Matheson, Vintage CARS Manager 2007 to 2011

See also: Collector Car Winterizing Tips from Zehr Insurance